Richard Hollerman

We wonder… Are you a teenager or older than this? How many of you are about age 16 to 25? Let’s have a few words that we hope will resonate with you and your heart.

It is hard to find precise data for these ages but we do find information on this general age group. By the way, we know that “teenager” is passé and so are “young people.” But “young adult” and so forth are commonly accepted. In the year 2021, there were about 31,000,000 people in this category, and we suppose that this would be about 15,500,000 males and this many females.

But we know that this many teens (if we were to call them by this designation), are many, very many! As for just the number that we are examining, they would be age 16 to 24, even though we have in mind a little broader group of age 15 to 25. We think that there could be 35,000,000 of people in this age bracket. We’ll call them young people, even though this is not exactly what we or they have in mind.

Suppose that these millions of “young people” were to have an interest in God and want to know Him. What then? You might say that this is impossible and we agree. If we look out at society in this nation and in other countries, we know that those who seek God are few—very few!

These young people (in our imagination) would seek the Lord and His will in all that they do. They would seek to know Him and follow His leading and do all that He would want. They would glorify Him, exalt His name, and worship him. This is true regardless of what your fellow-sixteen-year-old friend may say or not say.

And it is something that you should do regardless of what your friend of age 18 or 22 or 25 may want for you. You are you and will one day stand before God, the Ruler of the universe, and regardless of what others may want, you are to follow Jesus. This is an individual thing (see 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 and Romans 14:10, 12).

As we go on to other matters, let’s discuss this further. As a person, age 16 or 20 or 24, you are an individual, made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). And all other matters will melt away. Although there are many wrongful influences around us and probably 95-99% of young people are caught in the web tide of this evil influence, we know that God is pulling from the other direction and wants us to find our influence from Him. He will use this “pick” few for His purposes, while the world of 95-99% go in the other direction!

When I was about this age, age 15, I began to seek the Lord. I studied His work incessantly. I gave away all that I thought that displeased Him. I memorized 1 John 2:15-17 and this, along with many other verses and ideas, changed my life. Then, when I passed into age 16, I was immersed and sought Him even more diligently. So we go on, with our lad of age 16 (and beyond), and resume our account!

Suppose that your parents want you to go to school for education, but you are convinced that God doesn’t want you to go. We know that all kinds of evil things are to be found in high school and college (and even earlier, in Elementary school).  Besides this, we know that girls will be tempted beyond measure and will be led astray. How sad!. And the same would be true for men.

And so we come to education. If your parents want for you to have such-and-such education, and we know that this would not be for our good, when what? We know that college or the university is filled with objectionable items—such as worldliness, evolution, entertainment, sports, immodesty, scientism, pluralism, distractions of all kinds, and such like. And we also know that women need not expose themselves to these things. They need to be more involved in home-making, cooking, baking, child-raising, child-teaching, etc.

(See especially Jasmine Baucham, Joyful at Home, and Anna Sofia Botkin and Elizabeth Botkin, So Much More.) While the same may be true, to some extent, with men, we know that it is less objectable but still they are exposed to many different objectionable features themselves. We know that there are multiple negatives related to schooling and this we acknowledge here. Two hundred years ago it was not as bad as now, but today it is especially detrimental and wicked.

Consider music at this time. We say, without fear of contradiction, that 95 to 99 percent of music (if it may be called by this nomenclature) is negative. Whether we are speaking of the radio, the cell phones, the internet, or in person, there is a massive amount of negativity out there that influences you and those like you. We speak of the many instruments, including drums and everything else, we would encourage you to run from this.

The music is piped into the cars in many different ways. Whether we refer to the car radio, the Internet, the Cell phone, the TV, the lowly radio, or many other forms of influence, we must say that this “music” will surely lead you astray. It will influence you wrongly—and others too. So we must sadly say that music is one of the many influences that will lead you astray and pervert your thinking!

This, of course, is related to entertainment itself. It may involve objectionable movies, TV, all forms of worldly entertainment, and its many ways of influencing you, live entertainment by way of concerts, all of this is entirely detrimental to you and your psyche. We know that your exposure to this unwholesome “entertainment” would be wrong and unbecoming, and also we must think of the wicked influence you are to others.

We must recall the cell phones that seem to be ubiquitous at all places. We enter a doctor’s office and look around the room. What do we see? It is filled with people sitting and waiting—and using their cell phones. I suppose that they are speaking, listening, or whatever. These devises seem to be something that virtually all people (young and old) have but sadly they ruin the hearers in many ways! As you know, a cell phone is something can be used as a connection to the Internet and this brings massive problems.

Of course, there is the clothing worn by girls in all forms and fashions. (The same would be true of men.) They may be young or old, male or female, of various ethnicities, but they all reveal a heart of corruption! We think of 1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:1-7, and a dozen other places in Scripture. They not only serve to pull us away from God and His truth, but they introduce us to the habits of the world in many different ways. It may be that men are influenced wrongly, and in an ungodly way, but women also are so influenced wrongly too.

Along with this, we know that there are many wicked ways introduced by the enemy of our souls. We refer to hairdos, the body markings, the hair changes and dyes and anything that has to do with altering our faces and body. All of this is wrong. And it is wrong for the 16-year-old, and the 26-year-old for the various machinations that the enemy has introduced into the wardrobe maybe evil and of the enemy.

Another way that young people (please indulge me here) are influenced is through tattoos. We have already presented an article about this subject online but it bears repeating. We think that in the majority of cases (perhaps half?) we find both men and woman, boys and girls, expressing themselves in a most ungodly way—through tattoos and the like. Yes, some of these are more neutral while others are clearly negative. And if you were to present a tattoo (on your face, on your neck, on your arms, on your leg, or on other parts of your body), you would influence your friends to also use this ungodly means of communication. (We also think that your parents may object.) We also know (and this we sought information) that it would take thousands of dollars to remove these worldly markings.

One of the chief ways that you influence others and others influence you would be by the “friends” that you keep. I use “friends” even though we know that a “friend” will not do wrong or lead you wrongly. If you have a girlfriend (or boyfriend) whom you are near and who you are near to them, they will surely lead you astray. Yes, it is possible that you may be near to a good, kind, and sweet person—and this is good. But most friends are not like this. Many times in Scripture (especially in Proverbs) we are reminded that ungodly friends will take one down the pathway to further evil. If your “friend” happens to be a good one, a positive one, it may be different but too often we find that a young person is influenced wrongly by his close associates!

Perhaps one of the chief ways that we influence others and they influence you is through “boyfriends” and “girlfriends.” We have written about this on the website (www.Truediscipleship.com) but here we emphasize that you may influence others in a godly way or in a detrimental way. We refer to boyfriends and girlfriends for these people of the opposite gender are definitely influential and may surely lead us wrong.

Then we may think of pornography. Whether it be porn on the internet or in print, in any other venue, we must say that it is utterly wrong and God forbids it. We may think of the words of Jesus: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8) and Hebrews 12:14, where we read that we are to pursue holiness “without which no one will see the Lord.” We are to be absolutely pure and holy for our sake, for our wife’s sake, for the sake of others, and especially for God’s sake!

In another category, we know that people may be influenced by the food that they eat. Of course, we don’t refer only to veganism or vegetarianism, but we refer to all foods that a person consumes. Think of the foods that you, as a young person, may consume. Think of the “junk food,” the “fast food,” the non-nutritious food that will do you no good but will actually harm your physical body. You may not eat food that will injure you, but is it doing any good for you? In addition to food, think of the other aspects that will be a part of your lifestyle—such as your exercise, your sleeping, your habits, and your physical aspects that will pull you away from the ways of God.

Then there is sex (and surely you thought that this would come up!). There is fornication (and we understand that most young men and young women are involved in this sin). There is adultery; there is sodomy (homosexuality), there is even transgenderism, and similar vices, and there is even pederasty. In many ways, young people are involved in sexuality of one sort or another. Whether it be remarriage, or masturbation, or lust, we know that this sort of sin is rampant in our culture! Let us run from it and find a good and holy lifestyle that exalts the ways of God rather than one that tears it down.

The lifestyle that will take us away from the paths of righteousness is all around us. Sadly, we know that most are on this pathway and this will only lead us down the primrose path to destruction. It need not be alcohol or drugs or the like that will bring the ways of Satan into our life, but it can be anything that is detrimental to our life.

Here we are concentrating on those who are about ages 15 to 25 but sin reaches its ugly tentacles to those who are older as well. God is willing to take His hands off our life and allow the enemy to lead us astray in every way. If it is not one way, it will be the other. God is Lord and He will see through our situation in life for His glory.

What do you think? You need not be aged 16 or 18 or 22 or 24, but at any age we know that God is for us. He will help us and lead us closer to Him and closer to His way!